Frequently Asked Questions
Updated Dec 30, 2005
This page is put together from Frequently Asked Questions since 1990.
We do not claim to have all the answers nor do we claim to be legal, medical or financial advisors. So if any information points in a particular direction please check for yourself and with the appropriate professional people. There are a number of matters that the ASA can assist with due to experience both at a personal and group level. Should you wish more information about Law and other matters relating to this page please refer to our Links Page
If there is any particular matter that you wish to raise please feel free to contact us by Email.
For these purposes a reference to a Group includes a Church, Centre and Group.
*********************************************************************************** About a Group
This guide is a result of Frequently Asked Questions about how to form and operate a group.
The ASA Academy offers this guide for groups that are aiming to become a church, centre or group related to Spiritualism and wish to stay independent. It includes most items that need to be considered, but cannot be a complete guide because new issues are always being found. This guide will be updated as new groups come across new ideas and new problems. It is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice. Any decisions that need to be made are at your own discretion. The topics raised come from experience and accepted canon law practices.
All Groups are free to use this guide as a checklist.
Index of topics and issues, not necessarily in order of importance.
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1. Definitions –
For the above reasons the (Spiritual)“ist” and (Spiritual)“ism” identifies the connection with the Religion of Spiritualism. It is therefore appropriate that a Church as the symbol of the Religion of Spiritualism is called a Spiritualist Church. A Spiritual Centre or Group ought to indicate in its rules the religious denomination and philosophy to which it is connected or that it not connected to any and is therefore non-denominational. A Church, Centre or Group which states that it adheres to a particular denomination cannot classify itself as entertainment.
02. Starting up. A Group usually starts with a number of people, co-operating and co-ordinating as a team. It is a lot for just one person to do but not impossible. It is ideal that the group has a minimum 3 and maximum 9 people in the team. This allows for diversity of input and continuity during holidays and unexpected absences. The team is recognised as the committee regardless of the title used.
03. Vision - The Group aims to provide the best spiritual and personal guidance and assistance to the local Community
04. Mission To provide a place of worship, meditation, healing, personal development and courses for adults, regardless of race, colour or creed, within the philosophy of Spiritualism.
05. Religious – The Religion is Spiritualism with 7 Principles.
It is the choice of the group to a) include re-incarnation, and b) have a focus towards christian concepts.
Some Spiritualists do not accept re-incarnation. It is a common held story that all mention of reincarnation was removed from the Bible when the Nicean Creed was signed in 345AD
06. Law - The Australian Constitution
SECT 116 - Commonwealth not to legislate in respect of religion ¨ for establishing any religion, or ¨ for imposing any religious observance, or ¨ for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.
The group may apply for refunds of GST and exemptions for State Stamp Duty.
07. Status - Spiritualism is a Religion as well as a Philosophy and Science.
A number of Spiritualist organisations are recognised by the Federal Attorney General as “religious denominations” for the purposes of the Marriage Act. Other Federal and State Acts accept that recognition for the purposes of other requirements, such as for Charitable Fundraising.
There is no registration of Churches in Australia, as there may be in other countries.
Spiritualist Churches and related Spiritual Centres are considered Non-profit and charitable because of their status as religious organisations. This needs to be acknowledged by the appropriate Government Authority.
A Church or Centre cannot charge an entrance fee to a service of worship. It is customary that an Offering Plate or Box is made available for donations. It is normal to set a charge for other activities and events especially when fund-raising. Some people rely only on a Donation Box. There are no known Spiritualist Churches or Groups in Australia that practice "Tithing" ( giving 10% of your income to the church).
It is not appropriate to re-classify a church or related spiritual centre as entertainment regardless of the reason, be it for cheaper insurance or otherwise. A Group that is non-profit/charitable/religious organisation cannot be entertainment at the same time. Their respective purposes and functions are not the same or compatible in any way. Religion is a belief system, entertainment is not.
It is understood that Spiritualist Churches and related Spiritual Centres cannot be incorporated to be recognised in law as a religion. Refer to our Links page for further research points. A High Court Judgement (Adelaide Jehovah Witness v Commonwealth HCA 12 (1943), 67 CLR 116 (14 June 1943)) Rich J HCJ states – “a corporation cannot be a religion”. A religion is a belief system which can only be practiced by people that hold that belief. It implies that only a natural person (human) can practice a religion. The ASA is seeking further clarification. The judgement also provided an interpretation of s116 of the Constitution.
08. Rules - A group requires a set of Rules to provide for the effective management of the group. It results in consistency of direction, confidence of members, job description, etc and provides guidance in the method of management. The ASA provides a set of Rules for groups to use. The Rules need to include – · the 7 Principles of Spiritualism, · a Limit of Liability for members, · that members cannot benefit directly or indirectly from any activities or when winding up, · the group has objectives to provide a religious service for the benefit of the community.
09. Resources - It is ideal if the following resources to be available – A variety of Music, Music Player, Song Books, Tea & Coffee facilities, Flowers, Ornaments, etc When using music it is important to consider copyright and royalties. The ASA College can provide some guidance as to the availability of music, copyright and royalties.
10. Facilities - It is ideal that at least the following facilities are available – a) A meeting Hall or Room, under short term Rent or long term Lease. Meetings in a private home are not recommended, not only during intensive debates but also for the energy left behind. b) A Mail Post Box - It is not recommended that anyone’s residential address is used, in case the secretary goes on holidays and mail is expected. Or the secretary retires for what ever reason and still receives mail. c) A home phone with answering machine d) A mobile phone e) A Computer, Internet connection and email address f) A web site g) A Newsletter
11. Administration – The Administration of the group is handled by the Team until it can be arranged to hold annual elections by the members. The Team should consist of - · the Leader, (Chair-person, President or Co-ordinator) whose only function is to represent the group, monitor the progress of the team and initiate direction and assist, · a Treasurer, whose function it is to monitor the flow of funds and to ensure full accountability of those funds, It is absolutely necessary that all income and expenditure are recorded without deduction in a Leger. The entries should be categorised in columns and reconciled with a monthly bank statement. A receipt should be issued as soon as funds are received. Cheques should be used to make all expenditure payments. The Treasurer should also ensure that the Ledger is Audited and a report provided for members. · The Secretary whose function it is to deal with all inwards and outgoing correspondence on behalf of the team, and other members that are able to assist the team with particular functions. and if a Church, a Minister. Some organisations insist that the Minister is also the Leader. If this is the case the Minister can only ever be refunded approved and verified expenses. However if the Minister is appointed by the Committee, the Minister may be paid an allowance to cover expected expenses and other authorised items.
It is also recommended that some form of insurance is considered, such as Public Liability, etc
12. Finances and Banking - The Treasurer should ensure that at each event the income from all the activities is collected, counted and entered in an Income Ledger and then banked within the next two business days. The same for all expenditure, the receipts should be collected, counted and entered in a Expense Ledger. It will then be possible to evaluate the event and determine if any particular activity is financially sound and effective. The payment of expenses directly from the cash collected income is not encouraged until the above income and expenses are noted first. This process enables a report to be prepared for the members of the group and makes accounting very easy. It is the responsibility of the Leader/President to ensure that the Treasurer has complied with these arrangements and that a financial report with a reconciliation to the Bank Statement is provided at each committee/team meeting.
Banking may be with any financial institution with the Account in the name of the Group. The institution may require a copy of the rules and an authority for signatories. The ideal is to have two out of four people able to sign for cheques and bank matters. Monthly Statements allows for quick and easy corrections and accountability.
It is good practice to estimate the next years expenditure to include the weekly cost of running the group as well the rent and the annual payments for group membership and insurance with a parent organisation. Appropriate fund-raising should be arranged to at least cover the expected budget.
If financial accounting is not applied properly the group will eventually run out of money.
When starting a group, it is not unreasonable to provide a "loan" to the group out of personal funds to cover all the expenses or for a set time and then expect a refund when the group is financially able to repay the full amount or part thereof to balance the account. It is unreasonable to expect that a religious non-profit charitable group is operated out of the personal income source of any one person, no matter how dedicated they are.
As all funds raised by a religious non-profit charitable group is public money raised for the purposes of supporting the group, it is necessary that when a group winds up or closes down that a final financial statement is prepared and presented to a nearby similar group to publicly account for the assets after all assets are disbursed to a similar group with like interests.
This should also occur when a church changes its status to entertainment. Its status has changed and so has its purpose. And all the funds raised whilst a church should be disbursed to a church and the group in effect starts again with no assets as entertainment. The two levels of status are not compatible. An entertaining group cannot be a religious non-profit charitable group (church).
13. Meetings - It is best to hold at least regular Bi-monthly meetings of the Team or Committee and invite members and guests. It is probably more effective if the meetings were held before or after the Service, when most would already be there. A suggested format is Group Committee Agenda.
14. Membership - Membership provides for a say and voting rights. Membership requires a nominal charge of perhaps $2.00 annually. It may also include access to a library or other resources and facilities. Discipline procedure for unacceptable conduct may result in suspension or cancellation of that membership. It is also necessary that holding a position on the team requires membership. With membership comes the right to have a say in what happens. No membership, no say.
15. Activities - May include Services, Meditation, Development, Healing, Discussion, Courses, Seminars, Training, and any other activities that would assist in the process of providing support and direction within the Philosophy. They are only limited by the resources and facilities available. If insured through the ASA it is a requirement that every event is noted by the ASA. All regular weekly/bi-weekly/monthly meetings should be listed in the Church and Centre List whilst all extra events such as fund-raising activities are listed in the Events Register.
16. Reports An Annual General Meeting of all members should be held each year within 6 months after the close of the groups financial year. At which an audited financial report of the past year is provided and an election of the Team for the following year is carried out. A months notice should be given and any ordinary and special motions included in the notice. It is a time to reflect and re-direct.
17. Organisation – A group may decide to be a totally independent church, centre or group, or may become an associate member of the ASA and remain independent, or may become affiliated with the ASA or any other affiliation organisation. The known organisations are Listed.
Affiliation requires that you become a part or branch of that organisation and independence is no longer guaranteed.
Only the ASA has associate group membership with guaranteed independence. Refer to ASA Rule 3 (2)
18. Payment to Healers, Readers and Mediums - Should Healers, Readers and Mediums charge for their "Gift" is a $6Million question?
The Bible indicates that we were all given 9 gifts to use to our benefit and they are apportioned to each one individually as he wills. 1 Corinthians 12 v 8:10. They include - Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith, Healing, Miracles, Prophesy, Discerning of Spirits, Various kinds of Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues.
May I suggest that if you had a profession for which you got paid by the hour and you provided healing as well, the need for an income from healing would not be as great as for someone who didn't have a job and needed the income to keep providing the same healing. May you consider the thought that it is not the need to charge that is the point but rather how much. Even if you only request a donation, you are still responsible for the healing or reading you provide.
Should Healers, Readers and Mediums charge for their services at fund raising events is another big question. Sometimes the only Readers that agree to support your event are ones that "charge" a fixed amount or percentage of the readings they do. Sometimes with different fund-raining events being close together compounds this type of problem. Sometimes you have no choice but to oblige. The matter of healers only requesting a donation for their service is totally their own choice but at the end of the day they have only contributed a very small amount towards the purpose of the day - to fund-raise.
19. Payment to Guest Speakers and Mediums. The final decision on this matter and the amount rests with the Group. It is becoming the "norm" to offer some payment to guest speakers and mediums when it is known that they have travelled a distance from outside the local area. It may even be that the guests are visiting as part of a circuit of presentations and whatever the arrangements between the group and the guests is all negotiable. It should be noted that any payment above and beyond repayment of expenses incurs GST.
20. Church Demonstration of "Proof of Survival" - During a Church Service the Demonstration by the Guest Medium of "Proof of Survival" should be just that, a Demonstration only. It is not appropriate that every member of the congregation is guaranteed a personal Reading or Demonstration. A Demonstration is approximately a 30-40 minutes of "Proof" on individuals on a needs basis and selected by inspired guidance.
21. Church Service Healing - The activities during a Church Service are directed by the Chairperson. Caution should be exercised during the Healing section. It is advised that the Chairperson makes it clear to the congregation that only Church Authorised Healers provide any Healing, both during and after the Service. It is the Church that is responsible for any service provided during its activities and as such the Church needs to know the suitability of the people who offer to do Healing during and after the Service. ______________________________________________________________________________ Please feel free to contact our Secretary with any questions or comments - secretary@spiritual.org.au or ring 1300.880.675 |